Nurseries return to Covid isolation protocols after rise in measles cases

Parents and experts have voiced alarm over rising measles cases, with nurseries bringing in Covid-style isolation protocols to clamp down on outbreaks.

- Jessica Murray

There have been more than 500 confirmed cases in England in 2025, the majority in young children, and last Sunday a child died at Alder Hey hospital in Liverpool after contracting the infectious disease.

With cases increasing, and vaccine uptake in some parts of the country worryingly low, nurseries are bringing back infection control measures last used during the pandemic to keep children safe and ease parents' fears.

Adam Rowles's two-year-old daughter attends a nursery in southeast London that recently had an outbreak of measles, with four cases. His daughter is fully vaccinated, but his six-month-old son is due to start at the same nursery before his first birthday, when he would be eligible for his first measles jab, and the parents are increasingly worried.

"It's alarming, isn't it? Because it's something that you think has been eradicated, and we don't have to worry about any more, but then all of a sudden here we are. It's just baffling," he said.

Rowles said they had inquired about postponing their son's nursery place until after his first jab, but were told they would forfeit the place. The nursery said it had implemented strict protocols, such as dividing up walking and non-walking babies to reduce infection spread, and bringing back "Covid levels of cleaning".